An Ice Breaker for Power Lines

By now, those of you who follow the NFL have probably seen highlights of Tom Brady & Co.'s 59-0 drubbing of the Tennessee Titans last Sunday. More ridiculous than his statline (6 TD's and 380 yards passing in less than 3 quarters work) was the fact that a wintery mix of sleet and snow - keep in mind we're talking about mid-October - moved in over the field about an hour before gametime and lasted until the final whistle.

The HD vision of Foxboro got the rest of New England thinking about Jack Frost breathing down their neck, and probably triggered a mad, postgame dash to Home Depot for bags of sand, ice melt and shovels.

Winter in New England can run the gamut of blizzards to Nor'easters, hail and rain to weeks of sub-zero temperatures. It can mean everything from school closings to grocery store's running out of milk within an hour of the weatherman giving his forecast. It can also mean ice storms, trees collapsing under their own weight, frozen power lines, and millions of people across our region losing power for extended periods of time. As it did last year.

That's why we're hoping this innovation from Dartmouth engineering professor Victor Petrenko has legs. He's envisioned a system that increases the amount of power/heat that courses through a set of power lines. The lines can be juiced up with the flip of a switch, until they are hot enough to melt any ice that may build up during the course of a storm. If implemented, his invention could mean saving millions in cleanup and repair...not to mention keeping folks with power in thier homes during a season they need it most.